
Book .(Dt sU^ 



QmMW-J^iM 



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in 2011 with funding from 
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THE BLUSHFUL SOUTH 



AND 



HIPPOCRENE 



Books by Robert Loveman 

POEMS— IN DELFT 
A BOOK OF VERSES 
THE GATES OF SILENCE 

SONGS FROM A GEORGIA 

GARDEN 

Cloth, Each, postpaid, $1,00 



The Blushful South 



AND 



HiPPOCRENE 



OBetng ^ongjs 



BY 

ROBERT LOVEMAN 




PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1909 






Copyright, 1909 
By J. B. LippiNCOTT Company 



Published July, 1909 



Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company 
The Washington Square Press ^ Philadelphia^ U.S. A. 



iUL 20 1909 



<m\mtm»umti\ .^ 



O for a beaker full of the warm South, 
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, 
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim 
And purple-stained mouth ; 

Keats. 



CONTENTS 

THE BLUSHFUL SOUTH AND HIPPOCRENE 

PAGE 

I. — The dreams 1 1 

II. — Song 12 

III. — Evening song 13 

IV. — Yesterday ran roses 14 

V. — To his book 15 

VI. — In the pale woods 16 

VII.— -The days 17 

VIII.— Rose song . . .T 18 

IX. — In God's acre 19 

X.— Song 20 

XI. — Song 21 

XII. — I shall make a brave death 22 

XIII. — Love 23 

XIV.— Song 24 

XV.— To-day 25 

XVI.— To Cerberus 26 

XVII. — Autumn song 27 

XVIII.— The mystery 28 

XIX. — A prayer 29 

XX. — Song 30 

7 



PAGE 

XXI . — Dream-phantoms 31 

XXII. — The dying pearl 32 

XXIII.— The woman 33 

XXIV.— Song 34 

XXV.— Worm dust 35 

XXVI.— Song 36 

XXVII. — The youth-immortal 37 

XXVIII.— Sun song 38 

XXIX.— Song 39 

XXX. — Dawn and dusk 40 

XXXI.— The days 41 

XXXII.— Song 42 

XXXIII.— Song 43 

XXXIV.— ObUvion 44 

XXXV.— Song 45 

XXXVI.— Song 46 

XXXVII.— Song 47 

XXXVIII.— The hollow years 48 

XXXIX.— Song 49 

XL. — The hidden goal 50 

XLI. — Song 51 

XLIL— Song 52 

XLIIL— The search 53 

XLIV. — I only know 54 

XLV.— Like a little child 55 

XLVI. — A ballade of living ladies 56 

XLVII. — The hollow crown 57 

XLVIIL— The vast portent 58 

XLIX.— Song 59 

8 



PAGE 

L. — Song 6i 

LI.— The trail of life 62 

LII. — Love 63 

LIII. — Some power divine 64 

LIV.— Song 65 

LV.— Song 66 

LVI.— Song 67 

LVII.— Song for all soiils 68 

LVIII. — Mountain song 69 

LIX. — Song 70 

LX. — Beauty seemed afar 71 

LXL — Song 72 

LXII.— Song 73 

LXIII. — Song 74 

LXIV.— The labor of the child 75 

LXV. — Rose song 76 

LXVI.— The quest . .^77.. 77 

LXVIL— Zola 78 

LXVIIL— Song 79 

LXIX.— To love 80 



THE DREAMS 

Only the dreams are real, 
The false facts fade and die; 

The rare rose-Hpp'd ideal 
Defies eternity. 

Only the dreams are real, 
Only the dreams endure; 

Let thy soul's white ideal 
Be ever true and pure. 



II 



II 

SONG 

Odors of oceans sleep deep in her hair, 

Skies of young summers dream warm in her eyes, 
Lo, I must go to her, 
Tell my vast woe to her. 

Hold her, and fold her, and crush her with love; 
Night is where she is not. 
Pain, sorrow, stain, and blot — 

Love, O my Love, come thou in unto me; 

Learn'd in love's lore, thou art wise, thou art wise, 

Kiss'd by love's lips, thou art fair, thou art fair. 
Let me not longer pine, 
Love, O Love, be thou mine. 

Heart of my heart, haste thou now unto me. 



12 



/ 



III 

EVENING SONG 

Night is a deep black rose, 
Steep'd in sweets to the lees, 

Full of the loves and woes 
Of swarming starry bees. 

Lo, now, upon the air. 

Forth from her dusk cocoon, 
Fragile, and faint, and fair. 

Flutters the white moth moon. 



13 



IV 

YESTERDAY RAN ROSES 

Yesterday ran roses, 

To-day it is the rue; 
Again, again, O Love, I swear 

To be strong and true. 

To-day it is the cowl and fast, 
To-morrow, what will be? 

Foolish heart, hast not enough 
Of pain and ecstasy? 



14 



TO HIS BOOK 

Go little book to every heart, 

Woo them, win them with thine art. 

Go little book to every eye. 
Begging crumbs of sympathy. 

Stay little book against each breast, 
That promises to give thee rest 

Come little book again to me, 
If no soft bosom welcome thee. 

My fond heart shall hold a nook. 
Ever for thee, little book. 



15 



VI 
IN THE PALE WOODS 

In the pale woods at early dawn, 
The tearful trees dripp'd dew, 

The soft, shy shadows, waking wan. 
Murmured of you, of you. 

I climbed to sunlit heights at eve. 
Triumphant, steadfast, true; 

Festooning crimson, banner'd blue. — 
Thinking of you, of you. 



i6 



VII 

THE DAYS 

The glad days fly so merrily, 
The glad days dance so cheerily, 
O for to fling a loop of gold, 
And every hoyden moment hold 

The sad days droop so drearily, 
So wan-eyed and so wearily, 
O for a cat-o^-nine-tails then 
To lash the laggards on again! 



17 



VIII 
ROSE SONG 



Yellow rose go to her, 

Breathe all my woe to her, 

Mellow rose, tell her my hope and despair; 

Swear my wild vow of her 

To the calm brow of her. 

Drawn in tempestuous deeps of her hair. 

II 

Crush'd in the arms of her. 

Thou shalt know balms of myrrh. 

Rose, O, rare rose, to my Lady, away! 

Waft, where I wait for her. 

Love, and love's fate for her. 

Haste thee, rose, haste, to my Lady, I pray! 



i8 



IX 
IN GOD'S ACRE 

The beggar and the king 
Sleep softly side by side, 

Death unto each doth bring 
A grave thus deep, thus wide. 

The peasant and the peer 
Are of a kindred clay. 

Resting in silence here. 
After life's little day. 



19 



X 

SONG 

What cannot the poet do, 
Hiving wisdom's honey-dew? 
What cannot the poet see, 
By white truth's immensity? 

With the fulcrum of a song, 
He can spin the world along, 
With a lyric for a lever. 
He may stride the stars forever. 



20 



XI 

SONG 

Sing it away, 

Fling it away, 

Laugh it away, 

Quaff it away; 
Let not blear-eyed Sorrow sit 
At thy hearth-stone: Throttle it! 

Drive it away. 

Shrive it away. 

Shout it away. 

Rout it away; 
Come thou virgin Joy and be 
Life, and love, and light to me. 



21 



XII 
I SHALL MAKE A BRAVE DEATH 

I SHALL make a brave death, 

Spite of hell and all; 
I shall with my parting breath, 

Hold pale fate in thrall. 

I shall make a brave death, 

Stand thou by and see 
How old comrade Life and I 

Can part company. 



22 



XIII 
LOVE 

We lack love; if we have love 

We have all in all, 
Earth below and stars above, 

And calm and carnival. 

Love makes the ringed world ours, 

We are peers of God, 
Love woos and makes the flowers. 

Dew-drowsing 'neath the sod. 



23 



XIV 
SONG 

Come and let us sing, 

We are growing young, 
All the snows of spring 

Melt upon the tongue; 
All the tender lays, 

Laura, — Petrarch's woe, 
In the summer days 

0£ the long ago. 

Come and let us sing. 

You and I again. 
Let the swift days bring 

Joy, or peace, or pain; 
Come and let us sing. 

Love, or bliss, or tears, 
Life is on the wing. 

Speeding up the years. 



24 



XV 
TO-DAY 

Though the murk past be blotted out, 
And the pale future robed in mist, 

To-day smiles o'er the rabbled rout, 
A virgin yet by time unkissed. 

To-day, to-day, I have to-day — 
Let spectral yesterdays abide. 

And ghostly morrows fade away, 
To-day sits blushing by my side. 



25 



XVI 
TO CERBERUS 

Thou triple-headed hound beside 
The brazen gates of hell ! 

Come watch before the portals wide 
Of my soul's citadel. 

Here burns a sullen, fiercer fire. 

Oceans can ne'er subdue; 
Ambition, passion, love desire. 

Molten to one vast hue. 



26 



XVII 

AUTUMN SONG 

There's a calm and tender feeling, as of Autumn in 
the air, 

Everywhere, everywhere ; 
The shallop leaves sail down, crimson'd-green and 
golden'd-brown, 

Here and there, here and there; 
Old Rocky Face is sad, haughty, handsome, stern and 
bad, 

But the young Cohuttas smile. 
Dreaming softly all the while. 
With the calm and tender feeling, as of Autumn in 
the air. 

There's a tender, holy feeling, as of Autumn in the air, 

Tis a prayer, 'tis a prayer; 
Sweet benedictions and all blessings beam upon us, 

Ev'ry where, ev'rywhere ; 
While memories of Summer now faintly fade away, 

Hill and valley sing in glee, 

" O, let Love the harvest be," 
With the tender, holy feeling, as of Autumn in the air. 



27 



XVIII 
THE MYSTERY 

We know a bird, we know a tree, 
We comprehend the sky, 

The violet smiles up as we 
Go softly singing by. 

We map the land, and chart the sea. 
Feel Nature's pulse and plan, 

The one bewildering mystery. 
Is myriad-minded man. 



28 



XIX 

A PRAYER 

What for the fagot's flame? 

What for the hate and wrong? 
Lord God, I bless Thy name, 

I, suffering, am strong. 

But, Father in Thy grace. 
Keep from woe's wild unrest, 

The woman and the baby face, 
Soft pillowed on her breast 



29 



XX 

SONG 

Why shouldn't a song 

Be cheery and bright, 
If you love it along 

All the day and the night? 
If you cuddle it close 

Ere it talceth its flight 
And joyously goes 

On the wings of delight. 

Why shouldn't a life 

Be free as a song, 
Unembittered by strife 

And unclouded by wrong? 
O my heart be thou pure, 

O my soul be thou strong — 
As the hills that endure. 

As the mountains that throng! 



30 



XXI 

DREAM-PHANTOMS 

In the bright light of night, 

Illumining the gloom, 
Dream-phantoms weave their flight 

Up from the tomb. 

In the deep dark of day, 
Dun-blanketing the light, 

Dream-phantoms wing away 
Back to the night. 



31 



XXII 
THE DYING PEARL 

Banished from her warm breast, 
Where I was wont to lie, 

Torn from my love-blown nest, 
O wretched pearl am I ! 

Because he proved untrue, 
My mistress cast me by, 

Alas, what can I do, 
But lustre-pining die? 



32 



XXIII 

THE WOMAN 

God send the woman by my way, 
She shall possess me night and day, 
In her dear eyes my own shall see 
All heaven in epitome. 

God send the woman by my way. 
To her my soul will kneel and pray, 
She may allay with her sweet art 
The hell that rages in my heart. 



33 



XXIV 
SONG 

Heliotrope and mignonette, 

Violet and rose, 
Madrigal and canzonet, 

Every bloom that blows; 
All the happy birds there be. 

Singing through the air. 
Whisper, O my Love, of thee. 

Sweet and fond and fair. 

Every star upon the sky. 

Bubbling, beaming bright. 
Kindles at thy sparkling eye, 

'Tis their fount of light; 
Every beauty-breathing gem, 

On the land or sea, 
I'd crush into a diadem 

Fit for crowning thee. 



34 



XXV 
WORM DUST 

Fat with the fertile dust of man, 
Earth waxeth rich and strong, 

To feed her full, since time began, 
The teeming millions throng. 

Into her mighty maw we go, 
A gasp, a groan, a squirm; — 

Doth old relentless Nature know 
Man from another worm? 



35 



XXVI 
SONG 

Musical^ mystical, low, 

A song in the air everywhere, 
A wave that doth flow to and fro, 

A note that doth float here and there; 
About us, above, and beyond. 

Some melody lureth away, 
A symphony tender and fond, 

A rhapsody, jocund and gay. 

Yearning, and burning, and sweet, 

A song in the air everywhere, 
An aria fervent and fleet, 

A miserere lonely and bare; 
Behind us, before, and between, 

We see, and we feel, and we hear, 
A rainbow-robed, glorious paean, 

Enravishing heart, soul, and ear. 



^e 



XXVII 
THE YOUTH-IMMORTAL 

We must wax old and bent, 
Mumble and feebly creep, 

We must lie prone and spent. 
Cast on the shore of sleep. 

And while our bodies fade. 

To dusty, dim decay, 
The earth sweeps rose-array'd, 

On youth-immortal way. 



37 



XXVIII 
SUN SONG 

Drunken with wine of sun, 

I tipple, reel, I sway, 
The lewd dark being done, 

I drain another day. 

Lapp'd to the lips in light, 
Mad as the roaring seas, 

Live long, thou tubbed wight, 
O rare Diogenes! 



38 



XXIX 

SONG 

The dream is o'er, and we awake; 
The morn is sweet and fair, 

Deep in the purple-scented brake, 
A bird song woos the air; 

Up the glad causeway of the east 
The sun leaps evermore, 

Anon the noon shall spread her feast- 
Dear Love, the dream is o'er. 

The dream is o'er, we did not deem. 

Dear Love, the stars would fade, 
We did not deem 'twas but a dream 

Of youth all undismayed. 
Look, where adown the saffron west 

Day leads her royal train; 
Within mine arms, upon my breast, 

Come, Love, and dream again. 



39 



XXX 

DAWN AND DUSK 



A STAR swoons in the purple east, 
The moon wanes in the west forlorn, 

The birds and bees wake for the feast 
Of sunshine, and of mellow morn. 

II 

Now o'er uncharted deeps of dark. 
The fire-fly speeds his fragile bark, 

Piloted by the self-same One, 
Who guides the chariot of the sun. 



40 



XXXI 
THE DAYS 

Evasive, evanescent, shy, 
The days of diamond go by, 

A string of jewels white they lie 
Between nude nights of ebony. 

Unbroken, vast, the chain doth spread 
About the living, and the dead. 

Time stands upon the morrow's brink, 
Weaving another lucent link. 



41 



XXXII 
SONG 

Let the lute, and the flute, and viol leap 

In tranced ecstasies; 
And the train of a royal music sweep 

Before our avid eyes; 
Let the old songs come from the tender past, 

Yearning with passion's pain, 
Sweet trumpeter sound forth a martial blast. 

Calling to arms again. 

Let a pageant pass o'er the fragrant grass, 

Of virgins lithe and free. 
And each wistful maid, be she all arrayed 

In folds of melody; 
Let the chorus wake for the old sake's sake. 

Our hearts forego their care. 
Till the day and the night, in wild delight, 

Echo the rapture rare. 



42 



XXXIII 

SONG 

Dear day, fond day, 

Haste thee not away, 

All the world is fragrant 

With incense of the May; 

All the hills are happy, 

Every dale is gay, 

As in a dream, the mountain stream, 

Ripples its roundelay. 

Sweet day, good day. 

Linger yet I pray. 

Every beatific bush, 

The wind doth gently sway; 

In my heart Fll bear thee. 

All my life along; 

In commemoration, 

Seal thee in a song. 



43 



XXXIV 

OBLIVION 

I CAST my soul against the wall, 
I saw it writhe, and cringe, and fall, 
I smote it fiercely hip and thigh, 
I watched it die in agony. 

Now I can face the tides of years. 
Freed of those dumb, foreboding fears. 
Now while the ages rumble on, 
I can know deep oblivion. 



44 



XXXV 

SONG 



To me they are primroses, 

For that they're sweet and prim, 

Shy hidden in the closes 
Of cloisters cool and dim. 

II 

O modest, fond primroses, 

Let me thy lover limn 
Thy swayings, nods, and poses, 

Into a primrose hymn. 



45 



XXXVI 

SONG 

'Tis in the rose, 'tis in the thorn, 
'Tis in the midnight, and the morn; 
It dimples in a drop of dew. 
Or beameth in the ocean's blue; 
'Tis here, 'tis there, 'tis everywhere, 
From Zuider Zee to Zanzibar; 
No race or region, coast or clime, 
That sees not Beauty's self sublime. 

'Tis in the rushlight, and the star, 
'Tis there, 'tis here, 'tis near and far, 
It came with chaos, and will go 
With our proud planet's overthrow; 
Poor, poor is he, who cannot see 
Earth's sweetness and simplicity; 
Beauty, the lavish, royal king. 
Hath set his seal on everything. 



46 



XXXVII 
SONG 



When fortune flung me flowers. 
Of fragrance and delight, 

Through all the golden hours, 
I held their sweetness slight. 

II 

And now if fate doth dole me, 
Once in the rose-reft years, 

A shy bloom to console me, 
I nourish it with tears. 



47 



XXXVIII 
THE HOLLOW YEARS 

Our follies and our weaknesses 

Creep from the past to vex our eyes, 

They taunt us, haunt us, flaunt us, 
With their mocking memories. 

Out of the hollow years they come. 

Old serpent ghosts of wrongs we wrought, 

Writhing in pain within the brain, 
Coiling themselves about our thought. 



48 



XXXIX 

SONG 

Sing to the sorrow, Dear, 

Lift thy sweet eyes of Hght, 
Luminous, loving, clear, 

Deep as the pools of night; 
Come let us wear the woe. 

Tenderly, trustfully, now. 
Grief, like a dream shall go. 

Peace, sit enthron'd on thy brow. 

Wear now the sorrow. Dear, 

Calm like a dawn shall kiss, 
The threatening clouds of fear. 

Banished by winds of bliss; 
Come let us fold the woe. 

Like some fond garment away, 
Love, O dear Love, come go, 

Bravely to welcome the day. 



49 



XL 

THE HIDDEN GOAL 



I SAID unto my soul, 

'^ If thou art more than clay, 
Point me the hidden goal. 

Light me the trackless way J 

II 

Send but one shred of light. 
One wisp whereon to cling, 

E'er sealed in sodden night, 
I lie a clodden thing. 



so 



XLI 
SONG 

The glad earth sings it to the sky, 

The stars unto the sea; 
A violet with moistened eye 

Can whisper it to me. 

Old night doth know, young day could tell, 

O doubting, fearful man, 
King Love doth reign, that all is well. 

That we shall live again. 



SI 



XLII 
SONG 

Peace hover at my heart, 

Sweet peace, come clasp me now, 
Play thy quiescent part. 

And soothe my burning brow ; 
Come take me to thy breast, 

Smoothe all my cares away, 
Fold me in robes of rest. 

Guide me the stilly way. 

Lo I have wandered long. 

Across the sunlit wold. 
Singing my bravest song, 

Youth sped, and I am old; 
O tender spirit. Peace, 

Come nestle at my soul; 
Bid sorrow now surcease. 

Mellow the evening goal. 



52 



XLIII 
THE SEARCH 

I WANT to see, when he doth die, 
How careless, brave, and free, 

He'll step into the mystery, — 
He swore he'd look for me. 

And I shall wing from place to place. 
And cHmb the last redoubt; 

We twain will rend the womb of space, 
Seeking each other out. 



53 



XLIV 
I ONLY KNOW 

Impartial, calm, submissive, I 
Watch silently beneath the sky; 

Sworn to swift doubts that ebb and flow, 
I only know, I do not know. 

Fantastic, puerile, and vain, 

Chaff winnow'd from man's dusty brain 
Is all surmise; We come, we go, — 

I only know, I do not know. 



54 



XLV 

LIKE A LITTLE CHILD 

If one had a heart Hke a Httle child, 
Tender, and innocent, and mild, 
And could see the world through a joyous mind, 
Gentle, and pure, and sweet, and kind. 
There were then no sorrow and passion wild, 
If one had a heart like a little child. 

Poetry, Love, and Truth would reign, 
And the years be free of regret and pain. 
Laughter and mirth, and peace and light, 
And the sunshine day, and the tranquil night; 
Better than fame and wealth up-piled, 
Is to have a heart like a little child. 



55 



XLVI 
A BALLADE OF LIVING LADIES 

Mary and Maud and Kate, 

Jennie and Julia and Bess, 
These it has been my fate, 

To love, and to kiss, and caress ; 
Dora and Flora and May, 

Lettie and Hetty and Eve, 
How so? well, I never can say, 

But I worship^ them all, I believe. 

Phyllis and Fanny and Grace, 

Sybil and Sallie and Sue, 
God bless each sunshiny face. 

Ah, I was ardent to woo; 
Ellen and Helen and Rose, 

Enid and Edna and Pearl, 
Damn me, you will, I suppose. 

But I burn'd and I yearn'd for each girl, 

ENVOI 

Prince, how in the devil is it, 

Through all of love's fever and fret. 

As often as I have been smit, 
Lo, I am a bachelor yet? 



56 



XLVII 
THE HOLLOW CROWN 

If I could drive this demon down, 

And tent him to the quick, 
Could I renounce the hollow crown, 

That makes me heretic; 

If my bared brow might face the sun, 

Again, again, I vow; — 
What! I chose thee, thou Lucifer, 

Leering upon me now ? 



57 



XLVIII 
THE VAST PORTENT 

If we thought what honor meant, 

Wisdom, faith and truth. 
If we dreamed the vast portent 

Bulb'd in age and youth; 

If we touched a syllable 

Or of death, or life, 
Heaven would spring from ev'ry hell, 
Love from every strife. 



58 



XLIX 
SONG 



The poet waits beside the gates, 

Of Dreamland's paradise, 
No other goal can lure his soul, 

No other scene his eyes. 
Nor weal nor woe, nor ebb nor flow, 

Can tempt him to arise; 
But still he waits beside the gates, 

Of Dreamland's paradise. 

II 

Within is light, without is night 

And emptiness and void, 
Within is life, without is strife. 

And sorrow unalloyed. 
And through the years of hopes and fears. 

And prayers and agonies. 
The poet waits beside the gates 

Of Dreamland's paradise. 



59 



Ill 

O poet-soul, while ages roll, 

Upon the shores of time, 
No other bliss is like the kiss, 

From holy lips of rhyme. 
No joy so rare in earth or air. 

Or in star-shotten skies, — 
The poet waits beside the gates, 

Of Dreamland's paradise. 



60 



SONG 

My song's for thee, 

Dear Love, I pray, 
Dost thou not see 

In all I say. 
The soul of me? 

O Love, I bring 
Myself to thee 

In all I sing. 

For thee, for thee. 

Each thought, each word; 
Love's melody 

If still unheard. 
Soon dies in sighs; 

O Love, to thee, 
I bring, I sing. 

Love's ecstasy. 



6i 



LI 

THE TRAIL OF LIFE 

The trail of life leads out and far away, 

We follow blindly for a little day; 

And then our baffled brethren take it up, 

Till they, too, drain the dark draught of death's cup. 

The trail of life leads out and far away, 
A sip of sorrow and a gleam of gay, 
A feast of love, some bitter brew of wrath. 
All follow blindly in the beaten path. 



62 



LII 

LOVE 

I HAVE not love, or I should see 
A heart and soul in every tree; 
I have not love, or any rose 
Would breathe to me its fragrant woes ; 
I have not love, or I could hear 
The mighty music of the sphere; 
I have not love, or God would be 
A God, and not a mystery. 

I have not love, or I should go 
Singing unto- the gates of woe; 
I have not love, or death would seem 
A joy, a rapture, and a dream ; 
I have not lov% or man would be 
Sworn friend and brother unto me; 
I have not love, or I should see 
That Life is love and sympathy. 

I have not love, or hell and night 
Would vanish into living light; 
I have not love, or grief and gloom 
Would flower into happy bloom; 
I have not love, I have not love — 
But the poor falling crumbs thereof; 
Fortune doth fade, and pleasures pall, 
But Love is all, and all, and all. 

63 



LIII 
SOME POWER DIVINE 

Some power divine hath rear'd its shrine 
Within thy soul, O mighty man, 

Its altars rise to greet the skies, 
O'er all the years its arches span. 

Some purpose vast pursues the past, 
Some high fate meets the dawning day, 

The gorgeous scheme, a pulsing dream, 
With hope, lights life's triumphant way. 

O brother, clasp in loving grasp 

The hand thy kinsman holds to thee, 

With truth for guide, come boldly ride 
Abreast to God, and victory. 



64 



LIV 

SONG 

The words are mute, 
So let the lute, 
O let the music tell 
The dreams that dwell 

Within my soul, 
And touch my heart to tears ; 

O Love, who art my goal. 
Heed thou my hopes and fears. 

The words are vain, 
So let some strain 
Within the music plead. 
E'en while doth bleed 

The singer's soul; 
O Love, my heart for thee. 

Clad all in samite stole, 
Is dumb with ecstasy. 



65 



LV 

SONG 

I 

The music waits the words, 
On portals rare of bliss, 

The music waits the words. 
See how they clasp and kiss. 

II 

The words go nobly forth, 
To touch her garment's hem, 

Lo, now they meet, and look, 
Joy doth encompass them. 

Ill 

O happy thought and strain. 

Immortal, royal, free. 
Through longing, passion, pain. 

Mated in melody. 



(^ 



LVI 

SONG 

Of all the dear dreams that possess me. 

Of all the fond fancies that come, 
The sweetest are those that caress me, 

With visions and pictures of home; 
Afar from my hearth-side I wander, 

O'er oceans of billow and foam. 
And peace seems to me only yonder, 

Beneath my own roof-tree of home. 

A truce to the tinsel of travel. 

Farewell to the palace of kings. 
No longer I care to unravel 

Strange threads from the garment of things ; 
I shall go to my own like the swallow. 

Saint Peter's may cherish its dome, 
My heart's in the South and I follow. 

The South, and my hearth-side of home. 



(^1 



LVII 

SONG FOR ALL SOULS 

God bless all poor souls to-day, 
Those who weep or those who pray; 
Those who- sirig or those who sigh 
Underneath the roof-tree sky; 
North, or east, or far, or near, 
Kinsmen linked by a tear. 

Thou, that art my brother, say 
God bless all poor souls to-day. 

God bless all poor souls to-day, 
Love alone doth reign alway; 
Bold or brave, or weak or worn. 
Jewel-decked or tatter-torn; 
Beggar, prince, or clown or king, 
Weeping bird with bruised wing. 

All unthin Love's sot/ ran sway, — 
God bless all poor souls to-day. 



68 



LVIII 
MOUNTAIN SONG 

I CRIED unto the mountain, 

" What art thou 

With thy brow 
Soothed, and smoothed, and kissed, and caressed 
At the fountain of the sky, of the sky ? '' 

" Are the clouds that cHng about thee, 
Are the winds that sing about thee, 

Robe and voice; 

Dost rejoice, 
In thy station of elation upon high ? " 

The mountain spake to me, 

" O thou child. 

Wayward, wild. 
Be thou strong in storm and calm, 
Peace will pour its oil of balm 

O'er the waters of thy soul; 

And the goal, O the goal. 
Of glory there up-piled, 

Thou shalt grasp it. 

Thou shalt clasp it, 
O my child, O my child/' 



69 



LIX 

SONG 

O YOUTH, happy youth, 

How I long to seize thee, 
Frolic youth, in goodly truth. 

Tell why I displease thee; 
Thou art mirthful, wild, and fair, 
Dews of morn besprink thy hair; 
And thy fragrant beauty pure. 
Ever, ever, doth endure; 
O youth, tender youth. 

Pray thee, do not leave me. 
Bide anear, the song to hear, 

That my soul doth weave thee. 

O youth, trusting youth. 

Ardent youth believe me, 
If thy heart doth harbor truth. 

Love can never leave thee; 
Each last longing in thy breast. 
Still shall be the loveliest; 
Each dream-flower of thy mind. 
Sway unto a sweeter wind; 
Youth, youth, immortal youth, 

Stay thee, pray thee, hear me, 
Go not now, alas I vow, — 

Ever bide anear me. 



70 



LX 

BEAUTY SEEMED AFAR 

Beauty seemed afar, 
As the faintest star, 
Beauty looked to be 
Ail-where, but with me. 

I loved Beauty so 

That I sought her face 

Where I chanced to go, 
Dank, or dreary place; 

And I found her there. 
In the dunnest night 

I could stroke her hair, 
I could feel the light. 

Now close at my side, 

Beauty evermore 
Like a joyous bride 

Tells my blisses o'er. 

Hand in hand we fare. 
Up the rhyme-lit years 

Half the day in rapture rare, 
Half the night in tears. 



n 



LXI 
SONG 

I FANCY I hear Nancy, 

Slipping softly down the stair, 
Creeping slyly up behind me. 

Just to catch me unaware, 
And I close my eyes, and seem to doze 

Within my great arm-chair, 
So that Nancy, whom I fancy, 

Now may think me sleeping there. 

I fancy it is Nancy, 

Who doth stand behind me now, 
And doth press her warm lips lightly. 

Twice and thrice upon my brow; 
And I wake and take her captive. 

And the ransom that I claim, 
Is that Nancy, whom I fancy. 

Must instanter take my name. 



72 



LXII 
SONG 

There's never a lass for me, 

Alas, alas for me ! 
There's never a maid, I am afraid. 
To seek my slippers, rub my head, 
And light my poor old bones to bed, 

Alas, alas for me! 

There's never a lass for me, 

Alas, alas for me! 
Such is my plight, I long to fight; 
No woman's kiss to make me glad, 
No blessed bairn to call me '^ Dad," 

Alas, alas for me! 

There's never a lass for me, 

Alas, alas for me! 
I care not I, to live or die, — 
Why — Mary — dear, I wrote the rhyme 
The mom we met; ah happy time, 

There is a lass for me. 



73 



LXIII 

SONG 

I CAME to the mill, by the little high hill, 
The big wheel turned. Love you, I love you; 
The river ran down, past the lazy old town, 
Singing, Love you, O love you, I love you; 
Each tree waved a limb, and the wind hummed 

hymn. 
Of, Love you, O love you, I love you, 
And as onward I went, all the breezes unbent. 
Blowing, Love you, O love you, I love you. 

rock, bush, and tree, and winds brave and free, 

1 love you, O love you, I love you ; 

Joy, sorrow, sweet tears, and swift speeding years, 
I love you, O love you, I love you; 

life, and O death, O beauty, and breath, 

1 love you, O love you, I love you; 
By land and by sea, a voice unto me. 
Sings, Love you, O love you, I love you. 



74 



LXIV 
THE LABOR OF THE CHILD 



Shut them from the light of day, 

Dividends, dividends ; 
Rob them of their youth and play, 

Dividends, dividends ; 
Stunt and dwarf the coming race. 
Flabby limb and bloodless face, — 
A prison mill, the infant's place — 

Dividends ! Dividends ! 

^ II 

Steal their freedom and their joy. 

Dividends, dividends; 
Sacrifice the girl and boy. 

Dividends, dividends; 
Foolish, blind, impotent State, 
Sowing dragon teeth of hate — 
Save thy nurslings from this fate — 

Dividends ! Dividends ! 



75 



LXV 
ROSE SONG 

The Rose will give a party 

To the Butterfly and Bee, 
Everybody will eat hearty, 

For the honey all is free; 

Free, free, free, 

Everything is free, 
Flower flagons filled with honey, 

For the Butterfly and Bee. 

The Humming-bird will be there. 
And all the Dragon-flies, 

O the fun they all will see there. 
Underneath the Summer skies. 
Summer, Summer skies. 
Underneath the Summer skies; 

O the fun that they will see there, 
Humming-birds and Dragon-flies. 



1^ 



LXVI 
THE QUEST 

He died, and through the yearning years 

He swept illimit space, 
Searching 'mid roll of reeHng spheres, 

Peering in ev'ry face. 

Seeking with heart and soul aflame, 

And spirit steeped in woe, 
The woman he had sent to shame. 

In olden long ago. 

At last lock'd in each other's eyes, 

Sweet Mercy bade them go, 
On through the star-strewn centuries, 

Made pure by love and woe. 



n 



LXVII 

ZOLA 

Against thy weakness and thy shame, 
Poor, flighty France, the noble name 
Of Zola stands, who for the right. 
Hath dared thy myrmidons of might. 

A patient world impatient waits, 
That justice reign within thy gates, 
O France, by cruel error led. 
In deep dishonor hang thy head! 

Woe to the nation or the State, 
That cloaks a crime, that harbors hate; 
Her pride, her pomp, her people must 
Be crushed and humbled to the dust. 

France, let this evil be undone! 
Hear thou the pleading of thy son, 
Thy Zola, who hath writ his name 
In love, upon the scroll of fame! 



Paris, 1898. 



78 



LXVIII 
SONG 

Flora is a famous flirt, 

Well I know, 
And she doeth grievous hurt. 

And she worketh woe; 
O, her soft and tender sighs, 
O, her sweet and gentle eyes. 
Where the tearful rivers rise, 

And I love her so! 

Flora is a famous flirt, 

Alack-a-day ! 
I would swear by her hair. 

By her bosom pray; — 
Of all women she is best, 
I but call her flirt in jest. 
When I clasp her to my breast, 

And I love her so ! 



79 



LXIX 

TO LOVE 

The god of all the gods that be is Love, 

He reigneth over bond and free, 

His pinions spread o'er land and sea, 

O'er mountain and o'er grove; 

No monarch but must bend the knee 

Unto this nobler king; 

No soul so poor, if he have love. 

He lacks not anything; 

Day dawns for love, and night doth tell 

His glory to the wond'ring stars; 

The sun doth rise and set for love. 

And dreaming on her evening way, 

The moon resumes the silver theme; 

A toast to Love, at ev'ry feast. 

He should be first and chiefest guest. 

And o'er all be supreme; 

All you who love and have been loved. 

Come, fill your cup to Love ! 



80 



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